Black Separatism or the Beloved Community? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X argued that America was too racist in its institutions and people to offer hope to blacks. In contrast with Malcolm X's black separatism, Martin Luther King, Jr. offered what he considered "the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest" as a means of building an integrated community of blacks and whites in America. This lesson will contrast the respective aims and means of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. to evaluate the possibilities for black American progress in the 1960s. //The Autobiography of Malcolm X// from American Icons
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/Interactive timelines, scavenger hunts, and other learning fun all about HispanicAmericans. This page includes a link to the Hispanic Heritage Homepage and ...
Frederick Douglass
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ock || The Life and Narrative of Frederick Douglass - Nonfiction
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Read The Life and Narrative of Frederick Douglass - Nonfiction
Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography In 1845, Frederick Douglass published what was to be the first of his three autobiographies: the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. In this curriculum unit, students will analyze Douglass's vivid firsthand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism and powerfully uses a variety of literary devices to persuade the reader of slavery's evil. Students will also identify and discuss Douglass's acts of physical and intellectual courage on his journey towards freedom.
I have a dream that all my students will understand Martin Luther King Jr's brilliant use of figurative language. Study up on all the similes and metaphors used in his "I Have a Dream" speech. I realize my dream sounds impossible. So did his.
Common Core Standards
Reading and Analyzing MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech satisfies the following ELA Common Core Standards. This, of course, depends on how you teach it.
RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. RI.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. RI.9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them. RI.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). RI.9-10.5 Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter). RI.9-10.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose. RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account. RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning. RI.9-10.9 Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"), including how they address related themes and concepts. RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently. =="I Have a Dream" Lesson Plan==
I thought I knew how to analyze a speech, but it wasn't until I learned how to annotate a speech that I truly mastered it. And it wasn't until I taught students how to annotate a speech that I really learned how to do both in conjunction. I owe it all to this annotation lesson plan.
Instruct students to identify the following elements and make notations: figurative language, images, symbols, sound devices (alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhythm, onomatopoeia)/
Instruct students to circle any part of the speech that stands out, confuses them, or that they think is important.
Write questions in the margin; highlight unusual words; mark phrases that indicate the speaker's meaning.
Determine the speech's theme and draw arrows to the lines that support the theme.
I have provided my own analysis of important quotes. Check them out for ideas.
|| "I Have a Dream" Analysis
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Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Analysis
I have a dream that all my students will understand Martin Luther King Jr's brilliant use of figurative language. Study up on all the similes and metaphors used in his "I Have a Dream" speech. I realize my dream sounds impossible. So did his.
Historical Context
There are numerous websites dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. My intention is not to provide a detailed historical analysis of King's importance or the importance of his most famous speech. The purpose of this study guide is to provide an analysis of metaphors in his speech. That being said, a basic understanding of the speech's historical significance is necessary.
King delivered the speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.
The speech culminated a civil rights march on Washington in an attempt to secure rights for African-Americans.
The march, King's speech, and other boycotts and protests eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed major aspects of discrimination.
"I Have a Dream" Figurative Language
The historical significance of King's speech overshadows its brilliant use of figurative language. Let's analyze the following metaphors in the "I Have a Dream" speech.
Quote: "This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity."
Metaphor: The Emancipation Proclamation is compared to a "great beacon light of hope." The injustice of slavery is compared to searing flames. The Emancipation Proclamation is compared to a joyous daybreak after a long night.
Analysis: King begins with an allusion to Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. The beginning of the speech is hopeful but offers a hint that not all is right. His allusions and subsequent metaphors hint that momentus change is around the corner and that the hopes of the Emancipation Proclamation have not been fulfilled.==More "I Have a Dream" Figurative Language== Quote: "One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."
Metaphor: Segregation is compared to manacles; discrimination is compared to chains. The economic condition of the Negro in relation to the rest of America is compared to "a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." The Negro is compared to a man in exile.
Analysis: After the hopeful allusion to the Emancipation Proclamation, King uses anaphora--the deliberate repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of successive clauses--to remind his listeners that "one hundred years later" the descendants of freed slaves are still struggling to achieve basic rights.
___
Quote: "In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds.""
Metaphor: The march on Washington is compared to going to the bank to cash a check. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence is compared to a promissory note on which America has defaulted.
Analysis: King was a reverand, familiar with biblical concepts of love and justice. He was also a realist and understood that equality will happen for the African-American when African-Americans have access to money. This is his second metaphor involving money--this is not a coincidence. King acknowledged the brilliance of the nation's founding documents and calls for their immediate application.
Even More "I Have a Dream" Figurative Language
Quote: "I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."
Metaphor: The American dream is indirectly compared to rich soil, a soil in which King has planted his dream of racial equality.
Analysis: King reiterates that his dream is no different than the dream of the Founding Fathers. His dream receives its legitimacy from the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution to which King refers earlier in the speech. _
Quote: "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."
Metaphor: Inaction is compared to a luxury that civil rights workers must not purchase. Gradual change is compared to tranquilizers. Segregation is compared to a desolate valley. Racial Justice is compared to a sunlit path. Racial injustice is compared to quicksand. Brotherhood is compared to solid rock.
Analysis: King understood human nature. He understood the natural human tendency to relax once things are going well. He urges his followers not to relax. The fight is not over (anyone who's played high school sports has probably heard something similar from a coach). The situation is urgent and to delay is death.
Quote: "And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."
Metaphor: The potential revolt caused by the nation returning to "business as usual" is compared to a whirlwind. The nation's founding principals--what King relies on in his speech for political legitimacy--is compared to a foundation. Justice emerging is compared to a bright day.
Analysis: King once again references money in his "business as usual" remark. He threatens those in power that a revolution is coming--albeit a peaceful one--if political leaders do not provide the justices guaranteed in the nation's founding documents.
A Biographical PowerPoint for either Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Hector Gracia
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Instructions: Create a Biographical PowerPoint for either Martin Luther King or Hector Garcia
1Create a title slide. This should introduce the person you're making the biography about. Usually, you type his/her name in the text box at the top of the screen, and either add a picture of quote below that. You will want to keep the title slide simple. If you're doing this for an assignment, put your name, class, and assignment number in one of the corners of the slide in a relatively small font.
2Create an introduction slide. This should be a general overview of the person's life. Use two text boxes, so you can use the title text box to type "Introduction" or something similar, and the lower text box can be used to type your information.
*Use images on every slide.
3Create a timeline slide. Click on the text boxes and press the "delete" key on your keyboard to get rid of them. Timelines can be done by using the table tool, located in the "Insert" menu at the top of the PowerPoint screen. The number of rows you need will depend on how many events you want to highlight. and you should have two columns, one for a brief description of the events, and one for dates. The table's size can be changed by moving the cursor on the table's border, and clicking and dragging.
4Create slides that highlight specific accomplishments. These slides are where you talk about the person's major accomplishments. Create a slide for each accomplishment you believe is important, and then provide a brief summary of that accomplishment, using the text boxes available.
5Create a conclusion slide. This slide will sum up the person's impact on the world or leave the audience with a quote from the person that symbolizes their overall persona.
6Create a references slide**. This slide includes all the resources you quoted or used for the project. This adds credibility to the things you said during the presentation. See resources below for guidelines in a few of the major citation formats.
|| An Hymn to the Evening, To His Excellency
George Washington by Phillis Wheatley, page 66
Preview, page 67
Apply the Skills, page 68
Malcolm X: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Black Separatism or the Beloved Community? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.Malcolm X argued that America was too racist in its institutions and people to offer hope to blacks. In contrast with Malcolm X's black separatism, Martin Luther King, Jr. offered what he considered "the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest" as a means of building an integrated community of blacks and whites in America. This lesson will contrast the respective aims and means of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. to evaluate the possibilities for black American progress in the 1960s.
//The Autobiography of Malcolm X// from American Icons
http://www.aft.org/yourwork/tools4teachers/bhm/index.cfm
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/martin-luther-king-jr-and-nonviolent-resistance
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/hhm/index.htmlIn honor of our nation's rich and diverse cultural heritage, the Smithsonian Institution celebrates Heritage with hundreds of films, performances, exhibitions, ...
Celebrate //Hispanic Heritage//! Home
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/Interactive timelines, scavenger hunts, and other learning fun all about HispanicAmericans. This page includes a link to the Hispanic Heritage Homepage and ...
ock
|| The Life and Narrative of Frederick Douglass - Nonfiction
Fugitive Slave Law (Visual)
3/5 Compromise: Great Visual
1850 Compromise (Great Visual)
Civil War Through Maps and Charts
|| Frederick Douglass
Non-Fiction
Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 AutobiographyIn 1845, Frederick Douglass published what was to be the first of his three autobiographies: the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. In this curriculum unit, students will analyze Douglass's vivid firsthand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism and powerfully uses a variety of literary devices to persuade the reader of slavery's evil. Students will also identify and discuss Douglass's acts of physical and intellectual courage on his journey towards freedom.
- Lesson 1: The Reality behind the Song
- Lesson 2: Slavery's Dehumanizing Effects
- Lesson 3: From Courage to Freedom
Frederick Douglass from American Writers|| "I Have a Dream" Lesson Plan
Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Lesson Plan
I have a dream that all my students will understand Martin Luther King Jr's brilliant use of figurative language. Study up on all the similes and metaphors used in his "I Have a Dream" speech. I realize my dream sounds impossible. So did his.
Common Core Standards
Reading and Analyzing MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech satisfies the following ELA Common Core Standards. This, of course, depends on how you teach it.RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RI.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RI.9-10.3 Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
RI.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
RI.9-10.5 Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
RI.9-10.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
RI.9-10.9 Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"), including how they address related themes and concepts.
RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently. =="I Have a Dream" Lesson Plan==
I thought I knew how to analyze a speech, but it wasn't until I learned how to annotate a speech that I truly mastered it. And it wasn't until I taught students how to annotate a speech that I really learned how to do both in conjunction. I owe it all to this annotation lesson plan.
- Hand out a copy of the "I Have a Dream" Speech.
- Watch the speech.
- Instruct students to identify the following elements and make notations: figurative language, images, symbols, sound devices (alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhythm, onomatopoeia)/
- Instruct students to circle any part of the speech that stands out, confuses them, or that they think is important.
- Write questions in the margin; highlight unusual words; mark phrases that indicate the speaker's meaning.
- Determine the speech's theme and draw arrows to the lines that support the theme.
I have provided my own analysis of important quotes. Check them out for ideas.|| "I Have a Dream" Analysis
Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Analysis
I have a dream that all my students will understand Martin Luther King Jr's brilliant use of figurative language. Study up on all the similes and metaphors used in his "I Have a Dream" speech. I realize my dream sounds impossible. So did his.
Historical Context
There are numerous websites dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. My intention is not to provide a detailed historical analysis of King's importance or the importance of his most famous speech. The purpose of this study guide is to provide an analysis of metaphors in his speech. That being said, a basic understanding of the speech's historical significance is necessary."I Have a Dream" Figurative Language
The historical significance of King's speech overshadows its brilliant use of figurative language. Let's analyze the following metaphors in the "I Have a Dream" speech.Quote: "This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity."
Metaphor: The Emancipation Proclamation is compared to a "great beacon light of hope." The injustice of slavery is compared to searing flames. The Emancipation Proclamation is compared to a joyous daybreak after a long night.
Analysis: King begins with an allusion to Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. The beginning of the speech is hopeful but offers a hint that not all is right. His allusions and subsequent metaphors hint that momentus change is around the corner and that the hopes of the Emancipation Proclamation have not been fulfilled.==More "I Have a Dream" Figurative Language==
Quote: "One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."
Metaphor: Segregation is compared to manacles; discrimination is compared to chains. The economic condition of the Negro in relation to the rest of America is compared to "a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." The Negro is compared to a man in exile.
Analysis: After the hopeful allusion to the Emancipation Proclamation, King uses anaphora--the deliberate repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of successive clauses--to remind his listeners that "one hundred years later" the descendants of freed slaves are still struggling to achieve basic rights.
___
Quote: "In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds.""
Metaphor: The march on Washington is compared to going to the bank to cash a check. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence is compared to a promissory note on which America has defaulted.
Analysis: King was a reverand, familiar with biblical concepts of love and justice. He was also a realist and understood that equality will happen for the African-American when African-Americans have access to money. This is his second metaphor involving money--this is not a coincidence. King acknowledged the brilliance of the nation's founding documents and calls for their immediate application.
Even More "I Have a Dream" Figurative Language
Quote: "I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."Metaphor: The American dream is indirectly compared to rich soil, a soil in which King has planted his dream of racial equality.
Analysis: King reiterates that his dream is no different than the dream of the Founding Fathers. His dream receives its legitimacy from the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution to which King refers earlier in the speech.
_
Quote: "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."
Metaphor: Inaction is compared to a luxury that civil rights workers must not purchase. Gradual change is compared to tranquilizers. Segregation is compared to a desolate valley. Racial Justice is compared to a sunlit path. Racial injustice is compared to quicksand. Brotherhood is compared to solid rock.
Analysis: King understood human nature. He understood the natural human tendency to relax once things are going well. He urges his followers not to relax. The fight is not over (anyone who's played high school sports has probably heard something similar from a coach). The situation is urgent and to delay is death.
Quote: "And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."
Metaphor: The potential revolt caused by the nation returning to "business as usual" is compared to a whirlwind. The nation's founding principals--what King relies on in his speech for political legitimacy--is compared to a foundation. Justice emerging is compared to a bright day.
Analysis: King once again references money in his "business as usual" remark. He threatens those in power that a revolution is coming--albeit a peaceful one--if political leaders do not provide the justices guaranteed in the nation's founding documents.
Instructions: Create a Biographical PowerPoint for either Martin Luther King or Hector Garcia
Hector Perez Garcia, M.D.
1914-1996
UTMB, School of Medicine Class of 1940
Physician, Community Leader, & Activist
Family Practitioner, Corpus Christi - Texas
2008 HECTOR P. GARCIA, M.D.,
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